I've seen this photo a hundred times and never thought about that. I wonder when ergonomics started being a thing when designing computer workplaces.
Seem to recall that ergonomics really took off in the 80s and 90s, as people started suing for things like RSI which made companies start to care. I remember that was when everyone seemed to be swapping out for adjustable chairs and bolting keyboard trays on desks and having everyone take ergo training.
I watched this documentary, about a huge computer, just massive, huge, and a guy called Forbin. It showed governement spending out of control, and the ensuing disaster, although I was a bit high at the time, and the plot eluded me.
Anyhow, the terminals seemed much nicer than you describe, so maybe it was down to the employer?
Military computer joins up with its Soviet counterpart and takes over the world. There may have been some teletypes, but the more memorable output device was the big scrolling line of text.
RESTORE COMMUNICATION -- FROM COLOSSUS -- TO GUARDIAN -- OR ACTION WILL BE TAKEN
Look at what Douglas Englebart used for the "mother of all demos"
* carriage return used to be huge honking lever
It's strange to me that so many computer keyboards still have fold-out tabs at the back to emulate this. I even saw an old PS/2 keyboard with terraced rows just like a typewriter! But habit is a powerful thing. Pardon the tangent, but we're using an 1870s design whose main constraints were making room for key levers to travel up and down (which is also why we have staggered keys instead of an ortholinear grid). The funny thing is that there were decades more of alternative typewriter keyboard designs (look up the Hammond 1 for an example), but the first commercially successful typewriter, the Sholes and Glidden, is the one that won out in the end.
IME, it was the early to mid 90's. Suddenly there were consultants for everything, and office/ergonomics consultants started popping up.
I suspect it's related to the shift to the widespread use of computers in the office. Carpal tunnel syndrome went from obscure to an "everyone knows someone with it" kind of thing. I knew someone who eventually had to wear big arm-length metal braces while using a VT-52.
The bean counters figured out that if they made small-money adjustments to their workplaces, they could save big money on health insurance premiums.